ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's soccer team hosts its final home game of the 2021 regular season as the second leg of a double-header with the men's program. The team will recognize the seven members of the 2021 senior class with a short pregame ceremony.
Game Info
Sunday, October 17 vs. UMBC (3:00 pm)
Live Stats |
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Leading the Pack
- Six Great Danes have scored a goal this season, and five have recorded an assist
- UAlbany returns five All-Conference players from the spring season, including spring Strike of the Year Jasmine Colbert
- Colbert led UAlbany with five goals in the spring, all five of which were game-winners
- UAlbany also returns defensive starters Hailey Summers and Sophia Eifler, and goalkeeper Sophia Chen, alongside spring All-Rookie selections Olivia Piraino and Margot Nezaj
- Jasmine Colbert leads the America East in shots taken (61), 18 more than second place, and ranks second in goals scored (7), and tied for second in total points (15)
- Cassandra Coster ranks third in the America East in save percentage (.837)
- UMBC's Morgan McGruder leads the America East in saves per game (6.25)
- Sunday's game is the second leg of a double-header with the men's program, who plays UMBC at 12:00 pm
- Following the spring's unique two-division schedule, the America East returns to its normal round-robin format for the fall
Scouting UMBC
UMBC has not scored in two games since defeating Delaware State 5-1 on October 7. Since then, the Retrievers have lost 3-0 at New Hampshire and tied NJIT 0-0. Sunday will be the Retreivers' third game on the road in their last four. UMBC ranks in the middle of the America East in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The Retrievers were picked to finish 10th in the 2021 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, narrowly behind Maine and NJIT. UAlbany has gone 5-0-1 against UMBC in their last six meetings, allowing just three goals during that stretch.
Last Time vs. UMBC
UAlbany played UMBC on the road during the 2021 spring season, defeating the Retrievers 2-1 in overtime. UMBC scored first, in the 40th minute, and took the 1-0 lead into halftime. For the game, UAlbany would outshoot UMBC 20-5, but did not score until the 90th minute when
Sahara Zingano scored with six seconds remaining to force overtime.
Jasmine Colbert, as she did for each of UAlbany's victories in the spring, scored the game-winner, finding the back of the net in the 95th minute.
Last Time Out
UAlbany began its final two-game homestand of the 2021 regular season against Vermont, who arrived at the game as the hottest team in the America East. Despite creating numerous chances, and outshooting the Catamounts 20-6 over the course of the game, UAlbany suffered a 2-0 defeat. Vermont was able to hold on defense and took advantage of its few opportunities to hand UAlbany a setback after the Great Danes had tied then-first place Hartford and defeated then-first place UMass Lowell on the road to climb into playoff contention.
Around the America East
UMass Lowell, following their defeat at the hands of the Great Danes, has fallen into a tie for first place in the America East standings with Binghamton, both of whom are 4-1-1 in-conference with 13 total points. Behind them, Vermont boasts the longest winning streak in the conference at four games. The Catamounts also have four victories but remain a point behind the leaders with two losses. New Hampshire is fourth with 10 points, followed by UAlbany and Hartford, each with eight points. Beyond the top six, Stony Brook and NJIT narrowly trail with seven points, followed by UMBC with four points and Maine with three points.
Common Opponents
- New Hampshire
- UAlbany: 9/26 vs New Hampshire, T, 1-1 (2OT)
- UMBC: 10/10 at New Hampshire, L, 0-3
- Hartford
- UAlbany: 9/30 at Hartford, T, 1-1 (2OT)
- UMBC: 9/26 vs. Hartford, L, 0-2
- Maine
- UAlbany: 10/3 vs. Maine, W, 1-0
- UMBC: 9/19 at Maine, W, 1-0
- UMass Lowell
- UAlbany: 10/10 at UMass Lowell, W, 1-0 (OT)
- UMBC: 10/3 vs. UMass Lowell, L, 0-1
Sunday's America East Games
- UMass Lowell at Vermont, 12:00 pm
- Maine at Binghamton, 12:00 pm
- Stony Brook at Hartford, 1:00 pm
- NJIT at New Hampshire, 2:00 pm
- UMBC at UAlbany, 3:00 pm
Seniors
The 2021 Great Danes have seven seniors on the roster:
Caitlyn Adams,
Chloe Argenziano,
Christina Cernuto,
Jada Colbert,
Jasmine Colbert,
Kelsey Murphy, and
Amanda O'Brien. They are the final seven holdovers from UAlbany's last America East title, their record-setting 2018 team. Additionally, three players,
Sophia Chen,
Sophia Eifler, and
Hailey Summers, exercised their extra year of eligibility to return to UAlbany to play one final season.
Player of the Week
Freshman goalkeeper
Cassandra Coster back-to-back shutout victories over Maine and UMass Lowell earned her first America East weekly awards in her career. Coster was recognized as the conference's Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week on October 11 for her efforts against the Black Bears and the River Hawks, recording a career-high 11 saves against the latter. It was also the first time this season a Great Dane had won a weekly award.
Overtime Madness
Against UMass Lowell on October 10, UAlbany went into overtime for the fifth time this season. Each of the first four overtime matches ended in a tie after 110 minutes of play. The game against UMass Lowell, at the time 4-0-0 against America East opponents and leading the conference standings, broke that trend, with
Jasmine Colbert scoring in the 93rd minute to give UAlbany its first victory in extra time all season.
Tying Up
For three games in a row, at Siena, vs. New Hampshire, and at Hartford, the Great Danes recorded a result of a 1-1, double-overtime tie. In the first two games, UAlbany took the lead and let up the equalizer later, and against Hartford, the first-place Hawks scored first only for UAlbany to respond and force overtime. The streak ended at home against Maine, a 1-0 victory. An additional streak for the Great Danes remains active, six straight games scoring exactly one goal.
Streak Ender
With her unassisted goal in the 62nd minute at Hartford,
Jada Colbert ended a streak where the Hawks had not conceded a goal at home to that point in the season. Hartford had not allowed a goal at home for 361 total minutes, into their fifth home game, before Colbert found the back of the net. The last goal Hartford conceded at home was in the 14th minute of the game against New Hampshire by Ally Reynolds on October 20, 2019, since the Hawks did not play in the 2021 spring season, adding 291 minutes to their streak dating to that game.
Breaking Through
The Great Danes' first victory of the season came in their fifth game, against Yale, and featured a barrage of scoring with both teams combining for a total of seven goals. UAlbany defeated the Bulldogs 4-3, scoring three goals in the second half. Yale scored within the first two minutes, in what looked like the start of a repeat of the last meeting between the two teams in 2019 when Yale won 4-0. UAlbany tied the game before halftime however, before ceding another goal to the Bulldogs shortly after the second half. UAlbany scored the next three goals, including an own-goal from Yale to go up 4-2, before Yale scored on a PK to cut the lead to one. The Bulldogs earned three corner kicks in the final minute of the game, the second of which nearly resulted in an equalizer if not for UAlbany goalkeeper
Sophia Chen turning it away.
Schedule Shakeup
Four of UAlbany's first five games on the 2021 calendar have required adjustments from their original plans. The opener at Syracuse was cancelled due to inclement weather. The second game, the home opener against Hofstra, was moved up two hours to avoid weather from Tropical Storm Henri. The third game, at CCSU, was pushed back one hour to avoid excessive heat. Most recently, the team's road game at Quinnipiac was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Top Drawer Soccer Preseason America East Top-20
Picked Fifth
The Great Danes were picked to finish fifth in the 2021 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll. UAlbany drew 52 points in fifth place behind two-time defending conference champion and unanimous favorite Stony Brook. The Seawolves pulled in 81 total points and all nine possible first-place votes. UMass Lowell was second, garnering the final first-place vote and 67 total points. Binghamton (61) and New Hampshire (52) were picked just ahead of UAlbany. Behind the Great Danes, perennial power Hartford was picked sixth with 50 points, followed by Vermont (28), Maine and NJIT (20), and UMBC (17).
Captains
The UAlbany women's soccer team features three captains for the 2021-22 season in goalkeeper
Sophia Chen, midfielder
Sophia Eifler, and defender
Hailey Summers. Each was a sophomore on the team for UAlbany's most recent America East title in 2018, and each has elected to utilize their additional year of eligibility to return to UAlbany this season.
Colbert Connection
Three times in their careers, twin sisters Jada and
Jasmine Colbert connected on a goal. Jasmine set up Jada for the first goal of the 2019 game against UMass Lowell. Earlier in the 2019 season, against St. Francis Brooklyn, the twins connected for the first time in their UAlbany careers, when Jada set up Jasmine to put UAlbany up 2-0 right after halftime. Most recently, the twins connected when Jada set up Jasmine for the game-winner against Stony Brook in the spring 2021 season.
Home Field
The Great Danes finished the 2019 regular season unbeaten at home, going 6-0-2, before falling at home in the America East semifinals. UAlbany went 8-1-1 at Casey Stadium in 2018, including quarterfinal and championship victories in the America East Tournament. The Great Danes let up just eight goals in 10 games at home in 2019, and just two in the last five. Dating back to the 2015 season, the year of the program's first America East title, and to date in the 2021 fall season, the Great Danes are 35-15-4 at home.
Next: UAlbany begins its final stretch of the 2021 regular season at NJIT on October 24. The season finale is October 28 at Binghamton.
